Autonomous car decision override

ABSTRACT

A visual display for an autonomous vehicle, comprising a first display section that displays an external view of the autonomous vehicle, a second display section that displays vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take and a third display section that displays alternative vehicle actions that an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle may select to override the vehicle actions. A decision system for an autonomous vehicle, comprising an input sensor to collect information from passengers to determine if a passenger is an authorized passenger and a display section that displays alternative vehicle actions that an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle may select to override vehicle actions of the autonomous vehicle.

PRIORITY/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 62/324,646 entitled “Autonomous Car Decision Override” filed on Apr. 19, 2016, which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference.

BACKGROUND

Currently, passengers of autonomous vehicles have no way to identify the actions the autonomous vehicle will take when a potentially hazardous obstacle, such as a pedestrian, vehicle, animal, or any other obstacle, is detected in the path of the vehicle. Furthermore, autonomous vehicles lack visual indicators to alert passengers that the vehicle is planning on changing speed, stopping, or performing another driving maneuver. This can sometimes build anxiety for the passengers because they do not know what will happen next and also they do not have a way to change the default decision made by the autonomous vehicle. In short, it would be advantageous if there was a way to indicate or convey to the passengers sitting inside the vehicle the next steps that the autonomous vehicle is going to take.

As autonomous vehicles evolve, there is a possibility that autonomous vehicles will not even have a steering wheel in it, so there wouldn't be an option to override autonomous vehicle's decisions. However, if the autonomous vehicle itself provides alternative decision options to the passengers keeping the safety in mind, and thereafter, if passengers were able to select those alternative decisions to override vehicle's default decisions, then that would be really helpful, however, such above mentioned feature currently does not exist.

A similar situation to above is that if there was no road or a big ditch in the upcoming path of the autonomous vehicle, however, in case if the autonomous vehicle's default decision was to still proceed on that path, then currently the passengers of the autonomous self driving vehicles do not have a way of knowing what actions or next steps the autonomous vehicle would take until that action is taken. At the same time, the autonomous vehicle passengers also currently do not have a way to change the default decision made by the autonomous vehicle. However, if the passengers were able to select alternative decisions to override vehicle's default decisions, then that would be really helpful, however, such above mentioned features currently do not exist in the autonomous self-driving vehicles.

According to already existing patents granted, autonomous vehicles will indicate to the outside pedestrians about the actions that the autonomous vehicle is about to take. However, there is currently no feature within the autonomous vehicles to display the next steps or actions that the vehicle would take to the passengers sitting inside the vehicle. Also, there is currently no option for passengers to override the autonomous vehicle's default decisions by selecting the alternative decision options that are presented by the autonomous vehicle itself by keeping the safety in mind.

SUMMARY

Described is a visual display for an autonomous vehicle. The visual display includes a first display section that displays an external view of the autonomous vehicle, a second display section that displays vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take and a third display section that displays alternative vehicle actions that an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle may select to override the vehicle actions.

Further described is a method for controlling an autonomous vehicle. The method includes displaying an external view of the autonomous vehicle, displaying vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take, displaying alternative vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle may take, receiving a selection of the alternative vehicle actions from an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle and overriding the vehicle actions with the selected alternative vehicle actions.

In addition, a further visual display for an autonomous vehicle is described. The further visual display includes a first display section that displays vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take and a second display section that displays alternative vehicle actions that an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle may select to override the vehicle actions.

A decision system for an autonomous vehicle, comprising an input sensor to collect information from passengers to determine if a passenger is an authorized passenger and a display section that displays alternative vehicle actions that an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle may select to override vehicle actions of the autonomous vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a visual display that is used to inform passengers of the decisions made by an autonomous vehicle according to the exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary alternative mechanism to select alternative decision options via a vehicle steering wheel with a button according to the exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative exemplary embodiment to be able to select the alternative decision options listed on the display of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments show a system, method and apparatus to inform passengers of the decisions made by an autonomous vehicle, based on external conditions, and provide the passenger with the ability to select alternative decisions, thus commanding the autonomous vehicle while the vehicle remains in autonomous driving mode.

It should be noted that the terms “decisions,” “vehicle decisions,” “actions,” and “vehicle actions” may be used interchangeably throughout this description. In this description, these terms are used to describe the actions that will be taken by the autonomous vehicle based on the vehicle's programming. For example, based on the external factors that the autonomous vehicle senses, the vehicle's software may decide to slow down, increase speed, maintain the current speed, come to a stop, alter the course of the vehicle, make a turn, etc. and cause the autonomous vehicle to perform the selected action. In addition, the term “alternative” may be used to modify these above terms. Where the term “alternative” is used to modify these terms, it indicates that an authorized passenger may select a different vehicle action or decision that is different from the one selected by the vehicle's programming.

FIG. 1 shows a visual display 10 that is used to inform passengers of the decisions made by an autonomous vehicle, based on external conditions, and provide the passenger with the ability to select alternative decisions, thus commanding the autonomous vehicle while the vehicle remains in autonomous driving mode. The display 10 may be of any type including but not limited to LCD, LED, or haptic displays. The display 10 may be located in any part of the vehicle, where it can either be in the front, left, right, top, bottom, or center of the vehicle. The display 10 may be either at a single or multiple locations in the autonomous vehicle. In one example, there may be a single display 10 that is within the reach of the person in the driver's seat. In another example, the single display 10 may be mounted in a center console such that the persons in the front seats may access the display 10. In a further example, each seat of the autonomous vehicle may have access to a display 10, e.g., the rear of the front seats may each include a display 10 that are accessible to the persons in the back seats. Also, the display 10 may be affixed, attached, or permanently mounted in the autonomous vehicle.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the display 10 is a touchscreen and comprises section 13 that continuously displays the external view where the vehicle is going along with the potentially hazardous external obstacles such as a pedestrian, vehicle, animal, ditch, or any other obstacle identified by sensors and/or computer processing. The display 10 may identify the potentially hazardous external obstacles. The identification of the potentially hazardous external obstacles may be via a graphical display on the display 10, a highlight on the display 10, an outline on the display 10 or any other manner of indicating to the passengers of the vehicle that there is a potentially hazardous external obstacle. The external view as shown in section 13 may comprise a front view, rear view, side views, or any other view depending upon the vehicle's movement. The external view of section 13 may also comprise the overlaid simulated navigation path of the autonomous vehicle to display the upcoming decisions and proceeding actions the autonomous vehicle plans to take based on sensor input from the external environment. This simulated navigation path of the autonomous vehicle can be demonstrated in a number of ways comprising either independent or a combination of lines, arrows, images, moving images, animation, symbols, or any other simulated navigation path.

The section 13 may also display any sensor malfunctions of the autonomous vehicle or if a sensor is not functioning, informing the passenger of the vehicle's diminished capacity to make informed decisions.

The display 10 of FIG. 1 also comprises a section 11 listing the decisions and proceeding actions the vehicle will take based on sensor input from the external environment. In addition to listing the next steps that the vehicle is about to take, section 11 may also comprise additional visual indicators that indicate to the passengers if the vehicle is about to slow down, increase speed, maintain the current speed, come to a stop, make a turn, etc. The section 11 may also display any sensor malfunctions of the autonomous vehicle or if a sensor is not functioning, informing the passenger of the vehicle's diminished capacity to make informed decisions.

In addition to listing the decisions and proceeding or next actions the vehicle will take in section 11 of display 10, there may also be visual indicators located in different parts of the vehicle that indicate to the passengers if the vehicle is about to slow down, increase speed, maintain the current speed, come to a stop, make a turn, etc. Such visual indicators may be affixed, attached or permanently mounted in the vehicle at any location, wherein even if the passengers were not constantly looking at display 10, they would still be able to quickly look at the visual indicators located in one or multiple locations around the vehicle and know the next steps that the autonomous vehicle is about to take.

The display 10 of FIG. 1 also comprises a section 12 that provides for alternative decision options that can be selected by an authorized passenger if they want to override the default decisions listed in section 11. The alternative decision options may comprise altering vehicle course, stopping the vehicle, slowing down the vehicle, increasing the speed of the vehicle, etc.

An authorized passenger may be anyone designated by the vehicle owner as a person approved to override decisions made by an autonomous vehicle.

An alternative to continuous display of potentially hazardous external obstacles on section 13 of display 10 may be an inquiry function within section 13 itself or an external independent function that allows a passenger to inquire if the vehicle has detected a potentially hazardous external obstacle such as a pedestrian, vehicle, animal, ditch, etc. When the inquiry function is selected, section 13 will display the external obstacles the vehicle has detected, section 11 will display the default decisions made by the autonomous vehicle based on one or more external obstacles identified, and section 12 will provide alternative decision options for the passenger comprising of altering vehicle course, stopping the vehicle, slowing down the vehicle, increasing the speed of the vehicle, etc.

A substitute for section 12 of FIG. 1 that displays a list of alternative decision options may be that the section 13 itself displays the alternative decision options overlaid directly on the external view of section 13, wherein an authorized passenger would be able to select one or more of those alternative decision options and override the default decision of the autonomous vehicle. These alternative decision options may be integrated or overlaid on the external view of section 13 in a number of ways comprising of either independent or a combination of lines, arrows, images, moving images, animation, symbols, different color, etc. and would not be limited to just the ways mentioned above as long as those alternative decision options can be overlaid on section 13.

Another substitute for section 12 of FIG. 1 that displays a list of alternative decision options may be that the section 11 displays the alternative decision options in a new or a pop-up window when an authorized passenger selects an existing default decision or one of its subsets in section 11. In this case, an authorized passenger would be able to select one or more of those alternative decision options and override the default decision of the autonomous self-driving vehicle using section 11.

In addition, an alternative to section 11 of FIG. 1 that displays default decisions made by an autonomous vehicle, may be to overlay those default decisions on the external view of section 13 itself. In this case, passengers would be able to view the default decisions made by the autonomous vehicle directly on section 13.

FIG. 1 also shows a knob 14 in close proximity to display 10. The knob 14 provides the authorized passenger with the ability to select alternative decision options displayed in section 12 if display 10 is a non-touch type screen or as an alternative to using a touch sensitive display 10. In case if the alternative decision options are displayed in section 11 or section 13, then the knob 14 would still provide the authorized passenger with the ability to select alternative decision options in those sections.

FIG. 2 also shows an alternative mechanism to select alternative decision options via a vehicle steering wheel with a button 21 that provides for voice operated functionality and allows the authorized passenger in the autonomous vehicle to select an alternative decision from section 12 of FIG. 1 via the passenger's voice, as received from various microphone sensors throughout the vehicle. The autonomous vehicle recognizes only the voice of authorized passengers. The authorized passenger's voice is recognized by the autonomous vehicle and the vehicle reacts accordingly. The passenger may select alternative decision options from section 12 in FIG. 1 via a voice command by holding button 21. It should be noted that, as described above, the voice input may be triggered by a button 21. However, there may be other manners of triggering the voice input. For example, the voice input may simply be triggered by an authorized passenger starting to speak and the voice input recognizing the authorized passenger's voice. In another example, the passenger may say a keyword to activate the decision system. The keyword may be, for example, the name of the system, a keyword programmed by the passenger, a keyword programmed by the vehicle maker, etc.

In case the alternative decision options are displayed in either section 11 or section 13 of FIG. 1 rather than section 12 of FIG. 1, then also holding the button 21 of FIG. 2 would allow the authorized passengers in the autonomous vehicle to be able to select those alternative decision options using the voice command. One or ordinary skill in the art would recognize that in order to command the vehicle, the authorized passengers of an autonomous vehicle can initiate their voice commands in many different ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and therefore would not be limited to any of the examples given above.

FIG. 2 also shows an example for adding an authorized passenger so that the vehicle will recognize the passenger's voice, a fingerprint scanning sensor 22. An owner of the vehicle would be asked to set up their authorization using the fingerprint scanning sensor 22 when they first purchase the autonomous vehicle. For example: by using scanning sensor 22, an owner would add their fingerprint to the vehicle's onboard processing unit, making them an authorized passenger. If the owner wants, then they would also be able to add additional authorized passengers and allow those passengers to also add their fingerprints to the onboard processing unit. Any of the authorized passengers of the autonomous vehicle would be able to pre-record their voice so the autonomous vehicle recognizes their voice later when the voice control is activated. It should be noted that any biometric sensor may be substituted for the fingerprint scanning sensor 22, e.g., a handprint sensor, a retina scan sensor, etc.

One or ordinary skill in the art would recognize that a fingerprint scanning sensor 22 can be placed any part of the autonomous vehicle and can be located at either single or multiple locations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Authorized passengers would be able to use their voice to command the vehicle such as select alternative decision options, inquire if the vehicle has detected potentially hazardous external obstacles, etc. In other words, once a fingerprint has been stored, the authorized passenger may command the vehicle via voice button 21 and verify their identity as an authorized passenger via scanning sensor 22 or through voice recognition. Alternatively, an authorized passenger may also select alternative decision options and operate display 10 via the directional pad button 23. The button 23 provides for full operation of display 10 of FIG. 1 and allows the authorized passenger to select alternative decision options in section 12 of FIG. 1 to command the vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative exemplary embodiment to be able to select the alternative decision options listed in the section 12 on display 10 of FIG. 1. Autonomous vehicles do not require a steering wheel, and as such voice activation buttons can no longer be centrally located on the steering wheel in vehicles without a steering wheel. FIG. 3 shows a dashboard 30 with a centrally located display 10 and various voice control buttons 31. The voice control button 31 provides the same functionality of button 21 in FIG. 2. Pressing button 31 would allow the authorized passenger in the autonomous vehicle to select an alternative decision from section 12 of FIG. 1 via the passenger's voice, as received from various microphone sensors throughout the vehicle. The autonomous vehicle recognizes only the voice of authorized passengers. The authorized passenger's voice is recognized by the autonomous vehicle and the vehicle reacts accordingly. The passenger may select alternative decision options from section 12 in FIG. 1 via a voice command by holding button 31.

An alternative to authorizing a passenger of an autonomous vehicle instead of a fingerprint scanner can be a facial recognition, optical/retinal recognition, ear shape recognition, other biometric recognition, or verbal or hand-entered passcode verification. Additionally, a passenger who enters a passcode or inserts the vehicle key would be allowed to view the alternate decision options as shown in section 12 of FIG. 1 on their personal digital screen, which would be within reach of their seat in the autonomous vehicle. Thus, any type of input sensor may be used to verify an authorized passenger. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that authorizing passengers of an autonomous vehicle can be done in many different ways as long as that authorization allows the passenger to command the autonomous vehicle. Therefore, any of such authorization methods would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention and would not be limited to the examples provided above.

An alternative to requiring an autonomous vehicle's passenger to be authorized before they can override the vehicle's default decisions can be that a particular seat in the vehicle can be assigned as the authorized seat, wherein the passenger that sits on that authorized seat would have access to review, inquire or especially override the autonomous vehicle's default decision. Similar to a driver seat in the traditional non-autonomous vehicles, there can be an authorized driver seat in the autonomous vehicle, wherein such passenger sitting on that authorized seat would automatically have the options available to be able to override the autonomous vehicle's default decisions. In this case, there would be no special requirement to authorize the passenger using mechanisms like a fingerprint scanner, facial recognition, password, or other authorization method before the passenger could review, inquire or override the autonomous vehicle's default decision.

An alternative to requiring an autonomous vehicle's passenger to be authorized before they can override the vehicle's default decisions can be that any of the passengers sitting in the autonomous vehicle would be allowed to override the vehicle's default decisions i.e. any passenger could select alternative decision options so they can override the vehicle's default decisions. In this case, there would be no special requirement to authorize the passenger using mechanisms like fingerprint scanner, facial recognition, password, or other authorization method before the passengers could review, inquire or override the autonomous vehicle's default decision.

The exemplary embodiments may also comprise an artificial intelligence module, wherein the vehicle would learn the common alternative decision options that the authorized vehicle passenger usually selects under different manual intervention situations, and based on that artificial intelligence knowledge, system would quickly present those commonly selected alternative decision options to the users for future similar situations. Thus, the system would continue to learn and help the vehicle passengers with the future selection of their alternative decision options.

The above mentioned artificial intelligence module would also learn from the repeated actions of the authorized passenger based on different situations and accordingly alter the default decisions of the autonomous vehicle, so in future similar situations, an authorized passenger wouldn't have to do a manual intervention each time by selecting an alternate decision option. An example of this learning would be: if the authorized passenger, after seeing a child on the road, always selects the alternative decision option to stop the vehicle at a distance, then the artificial intelligence module of the autonomous vehicle would learn such behavior and accordingly alter the default decisions of the autonomous vehicle for similar future situations to meet the passenger's preference.

Any of the learning captured by artificial intelligence module would still consider safety of the passengers and the pedestrians as the highest priority and would not present an alternative decision option to the passengers that could impact or jeopardize safety. In section 12 of FIG. 1, any of the alternative decision options provided would always be such that they consider safety of the passengers and the pedestrians as the highest priority and would not present an alternative decision option to the passengers that could impact or jeopardize safety.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alterations of the exemplary embodiments can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. Some of these have been discussed above and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A visual display for an autonomous vehicle, comprising: a first display section that displays an external view of the autonomous vehicle; a second display section that displays vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take; and a third display section that displays alternative vehicle actions that an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle may select to override the vehicle actions.
 2. The visual display of claim 1, wherein the first display section further identifies potential hazardous external obstacles based on the external view.
 3. The visual display of claim 1, wherein the first display section further displays overlaid simulated navigation directions based on the vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take.
 4. The visual display of claim 1, wherein the vehicle actions are based at least in part on sensor readings of external obstacles.
 5. The visual display of claim 1, wherein one of the first display section or second display section displays one of vehicle malfunctions or sensor malfunctions.
 6. The visual display of claim 1, wherein the visual display is a plurality of visual displays mounted within the autonomous vehicle.
 7. The visual display of claim 1, wherein the external view comprises one of a front view, a rear view or a side view of the autonomous vehicle.
 8. The visual display of claim 1, wherein the alternative vehicle actions comprise one of slowing down, increasing speed, maintaining the current speed, stopping, altering a course of the vehicle or making a turn.
 9. The visual display of claim 1, wherein at least the third display section is a touchscreen that allows the authorized passenger to select the displayed alternative vehicle actions.
 10. The visual display of claim 1, further comprising: a knob that allows the authorized passenger to select the displayed alternative vehicle actions.
 11. The visual display of claim 1, further comprising: a voice input that allows the authorized passenger to select the displayed alternative vehicle actions via voice command.
 12. The visual display of claim 1, further comprising: a biometric sensor to collect information from passengers to determine if a passenger is an authorized passenger.
 13. The visual display of claim 12, wherein the biometric sensor comprises one of a fingerprint sensor, a handprint sensor, a retina sensor, facial recognition, an optical sensor, an ear shape sensor, or a voice sensor.
 14. The visual display of claim 1, wherein a passenger is identified as an authorized passenger based on one of a verbal passcode, a hand-entered passcode, or a passenger inserts the vehicle key.
 15. A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising: displaying an external view of the autonomous vehicle; displaying vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle will take; displaying alternative vehicle actions that the autonomous vehicle may take; receiving a selection of the alternative vehicle actions from an authorized passenger of the autonomous vehicle; and overriding the vehicle actions with the selected alternative vehicle actions.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein displaying the external view includes identifying potential hazardous external obstacles and displaying overlaid simulated navigation directions based on the vehicle actions.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the selection is received by one of a touchscreen input, a knob input, a button input or a voice command.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the alternative vehicle actions comprise one of slowing down, increasing speed, maintaining the current speed, stopping, altering a course of the vehicle or making a turn.
 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving a biometric input from a passenger of the vehicle; and identifying the passenger as an authorized passenger based on the biometric input.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the biometric input is received via a biometric sensor that comprises one of a fingerprint sensor, a handprint sensor, a retina sensor, facial recognition, an optical sensor, an ear shape sensor, or a voice sensor.
 21. The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving an input from a passenger of the vehicle, wherein the input is one of a verbal passcode, a hand-entered passcode, or an insertion of a vehicle key; and identifying the passenger as an authorized passenger based on the input.
 22. The method of claim 15, further comprising: learning the alternative vehicle actions selected by the authorized passenger in various intervention situations, wherein the displaying of the alternative vehicle actions is based on the previously selected alternative vehicle actions by the authorized passenger.
 23. The method of claim 15 further comprising: altering the vehicle actions taken by the autonomous vehicle based on the selected alternative vehicle actions selected by the authorized passenger. 